Hey Spaz,
Good to hear from you and that you're doing well.
I'm currently otherwise engaged and don't have time for more campaigns. I wish everyone continuing here the best, still.
Kind regards, Trevor/Harran.
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Hey everyone. I decided to come out and say here that I'll withdraw from the campaign. If I'm honest, it's partly that there were a lot of periods where there were large breaks, which made me lose interest over time. I'm also lowering the number of campaigns I'm involved in due to RL concerns. I could just not say anything and fade away, but it feels disingenuous to Spaz since he still keeps us updated here. Still, thank you for the opportunity, Spaz and others here for the good roleplaying while it was active! Hope to see you all again some time. @Spaz is there any chance you could put Harran as an inactive character so that the campaign would no longer show up on the overview screen?
Stationed at the ground level and hearing the fight break out above, Harran also starts running towards where Mia was, his spear drawn!
Harran moves up in the rear, still feeling unwell from the blood loss and sting earlier. "If either of you sees something, call out right away. Don't fight on your own, and don't run without shouting. Too many things can paralyze or stun you, and we've alreayd faced much more trouble than we were told to expect."
Harran attempts to shoot, but hitting in between Borden and Dragomir proves very difficult!
"Sorry about that!" Harran replies, as the arrow just barely flies by Dragomir's head. "If you could pull back slightly, it'd open the line of fire!"
Seeing Borden and Dragomir were holding the front, but not having a way to help them now, Harran looks up and sees Mia shoot with a bow. "Well... might as well go back and do the same?" he thinks, and moves back up to her higher vantage point. Once there, he drops his spear and draws his crossbow. "Doesn't seem like I'd ever get past the three of them," he says to her, keeping his eyes on the fight below as he started reloading.
"Is everything alright?" Harran looks up with a pained smile. "Other than this huge sting wound from the bugs on my neck? It sounds like it's just some rats and that the other are handling it just fine. Thanks for your concern though, Mia."
Welcome back adam/mia :) Btw, @spaz, it's the rats' turns now, yes? Are you waiting on us or such?
"Well... whatever it is now definitely knows we're here." Harran says after a quick chuckle.
After a few moments, Harran slowly moves down the stairs after the investigating party. "No movement on the ground floor. How are things down here?" he asks, his spear ready if needed.
Sorry, im still here. Life has just been extremely busy on my end, and tbh i thought this one wouldnt continue. Ill try and post tonight.
Harran moves up, scratching his stingwound which stung like Calistria's own needle heel! "You sure? Don't see it, but then again I'm not sure I can think straight with this forsaken itch."
Thanks for the update. That said, do you believe you will be able to realistically continue the campaign and maintain a daily-ish posting rate? Asking this out of realism concerns for its longer term viability; it's been very slow going, and at the current rate I don't believe we will ever see the end of this campaign in even ten plus years. While I welcome a chance to continue, I'd prefer not to do so if the campaign will only slow down again majorly in the near future (repetatively?), with more time invested in it and a lot of risk of player burnout during these slow streaks. However, only you as the GM can judge whether your schedule will allow for a posting rate that will keep the game alive. By the way, just to check, which other players are currently still here and reading this?
Aside from looking a bit pale and sporting a huge knot of mosquito acid beneath his skin, Harran seems otherwise fine. "Thanks, everyone. Let's keep searching the area. We can take their heads to the guards on the way back. All six of them, and see if we can negotiate for a larger reward, maybe." He also gives Dragomir a short nod, despite the religious scuffle just prior. He picks up his spear, and begins following Borden as no one seemed in need of magical healing.
Feeling his blood being drained rapidly, Harran raises his dagger to try and stab the Stirge off again...
Harran grunts in pain as the stirge starts sucking his blood. Swiftly, he draws his dagger and attempts ro stab the attached insect!
...but misses. "A little help... would be appreciated..." He grunts.
No problem, and good to see we're moving ahead again. On that note, I regretfully admit that I'm going on a 1 week vacation starting tomorrow. I should be back on the evening of the 13th (of august). I'll have some internet access but will probably not be able to post daily. Please bot me if required. Best of fun/luck to everyone and hope to see you all when I get back!
I reckon that damned lieutenant can't count worth a damn!, the barfly yells as the new wave of stirges flies in. "Let's just hope this is all of them!" Harran shouts, moving forward to try and stab a third stirge...
"Quickly! Flank it!" Harran says, pushing the first stirge's twiching body off his spear with his boot, then circling the second to strike from the side.
"Figured there'd be more than just three..." Harran mutters, dropping the crossbow and drawing his branched spear, then quickly taking postion just in front of Mac. There, he braces himself to face the oncoming stirges and readies to strike them down!
I seem to be able to move! Thanks for posting us along. How do you normally handle initiative? Are we going to wait for everyone to post in exact order even if there are no enemies in between? If so, could I perhaps suggest everyone posting whenever it is convenient for him or her instead and resolving it in the order of posting? This saves a huge amount of time in keeping things moving from my experience. Instead of every single player having to wait for everyone else to post in the listed order, they can simply post once and the GM can move the group along when everyone's done a post.
With Mia having her bow drawn and at least half the team ready with their own ranged weapons, Harran nods and begins the incantation. As he promised, everyone feels slightly more focused and brave as a result.
"Stay close and get to your preferred firing position. On my count. Three. Two. One. Fire!"
Harran looks at the Tiefling girl in concern. "Are you sure, Mia? If we split up and one team is noticed, the other one will be far way. I'm not that good at sneaking around and won't be able to help or heal you."
The ranger nods. "Yeah. That's what I was hoping for too. Though getting a little bit closer probably wouldn't hurt."
"Well, I can see why they'd give it away so readily," Harran dryly comments, drawing his crossbow and loading it with a bolt. "Just let me know when we're ready. I have some magic that can help us focus in the fight."
Perhaps an idea to fast forward the scene to the stirge nest to keep things going?
"No. They shouldn't," Harran continues decisively. "And for what it's worth, whether it's true or not, I don't think 'but their race abuses mine elsewhere' is a valid reason to be callous to humans or any other one up front. That kind of thinking leads to an endless cycle of hate. You're wise enough to know that, too," he adds to the small druid, then looks back down the street they came from. "But you know, Tomoe... given the way this town looks and smells, and the depressive feeling I'm getting from the inhabitants, maybe there is some truth to your words. Perhaps it would have been better if it was never founded? Would the people have been happier somewhere else?" The spearman wonders.
"I hope you're referring to the dead child as 'spilled wine', and not Senna," Harran states, his features hardening. "Though even then, speaking of the dead as such feels disrespectful to me, and the boy's parents probably don't share the view of 'there being enough human children' already. Nogwier might have filled your head with dogma about the end of the world being nigh and all, but that doesn't mean what happens to those around us ceases to matter. Especially since it very much remains to be seen if he's even right." He crosses his arms and throws an impatient look back at the town. Then he wipes some sweat from his forehead and sighs. "Perhaps the town's atmosphere I wearing on me. I do thank you for your offer to help here despite his teachings."
Piece o' piss mate, no worries at all. "I wonder who came up with those expressions of yours and whether they were in the habit of freezing their pee." Harran says, watching the sky. "That said, I hope Dragomir makes it back soon. We should really get going."
Mac, seeing he already has a bow, stealthily makes his way out of town (you never no who is watching after all) and joins Borden and Harran outside the walls. He nods to each of them. So what do you think our odds of surviving this are? "They're just blood-sucking bats of sorts. If they prey on small animals and children, that tells me they don't favor their odds against larger prey like us. So we should be safe," Harran reasons, waiting for the others to join them. Then he remembers Mac wasn't that much larger than said children. "Oh. right. I'm... sure you'll be fine too! You also have some combat experience, right?"
Oh Harran.*cough* Must have missed you. Have you landed in the town now? I would have thought you left the region. If you mean Nogwier, he's the same old. Pretty disappointed it seems, but that's really not my business. How are you doing? "Well enough. Just wish I had more information on what happened to Senna," Harran answers, somewhat on guard. From what he knew, Tomoe was thoroughly in Nogwier's clique. "But that's not here nor there. We should get to dealing with the insects first before more people around here get hurt. Don't want another child to get killed playing out in the fields." He rolls his neck and shoulders loose as he glances in the presumed direction of their prey. When Dragomir is about to leave, he calls to him. "Might want to check if there are some healing potions and the like. Just in case we somehow get more hurt than I can heal. We can always return them if they're not needed. That they don't have antiplagues doesn't mean they don't have ways to treat wounds stored in there." Afterwards, he sets out to the edge of town and waits there for everyone to be finished with the preparations. Just in case, he draws out his many-ended spear and keeps a close eye on the sky.
That sounds quite unnatural. Is there a description of the beasts? I'll join you to see if everything is alright there. Nogwier would certainly approve. Maybe i can even be of assistance with some healing. At least i can help detect poison. "Of course, you're welcome to-" Harran begins to say, but abruptly stops when he takes in the halfling. "Oh. It's you, Tomoe. What are you doing here? Don't tell me the old coot suddenly changed his mind, because it's a bit late for that."
Shall we move on the scene to the next one? I really like these characters and the setting thusfar I want to avoid stalling out... Perhaps Tomoe could meet us on the way there if she is still here?
"Heaven? Trudy? Is he planning to die today? Is Trudy another afterlife destination or such? Or is this more cryptic 'city language'...? Why is no one else confused by the gibberish he keeps sprouting?" Yeah... and that was probably telling. No one else was indeed reacting oddly so it was probably best to stop asking and pretend like he understood. "Don't have the money for any other supplies. I have a crossbow, a dagger and a spear. That will have to do. I say we go now before they strike again."
"Yeah... I don't have that much on me. Not by a long shot. And there's no way I'm giving someone my fingers instead. I'd take someone back to the lodge and gamble on getting help there long before I'd do something that drastic."
Its a language thing mate. "You city folk have some strange language habits," Harran says, then shrugs. "So I gather it's the five of us, and we don't have any other preparations? If so I'd say we go and get out weapons out when we get close. And watch the sky, I guess. Don't want to get surprise stung by those oversized musquito's."
Ah, good to see you're still both here :) @Tomoe The current briefing was stated to be at the town square, I believe. Did you already go there to hear the announcement?
"A friend of yours, Borden?" Harran asks, hearing the instant consent to letting him join. ...Wait, where did he-? How-? Did the guy just appear from nowhere?? In an urban environment too, with very little cover? "I'm Harran, a visitor. You seem like you have some real skills at hiding. 'Mate'." He nods at the newcomer with some respect, then slightly turns to Bordan as they wait for the lieutenant's answers to their questions. "Actually, what's this thing of yours about calling everyone a 'mate'? It seems... ah, overly intimate? IS that stating intent? Or are the two of you actually mated?"
Just to check and for waiting purposes, are Mac and Tomoe still with us? Tomoe's last post (her only one?) in particular was almost a month ago. Did she give a notice that she'd be gone for a while?
Harran watches the soldiers go, wondering where so many of them where going, and more importantly, why. Had some great conflict broken out that he wasn't aware of...? Though, more importantly, overgrown insects had outright killed a small boy and the garrison said they couldn't spare men to deal with it!? Surely the saftey of small children should be a priority! "Though... Maybe I should give them the benefit of the doubt for now. At the very least, they try to recruit whatever potentially skilled outsiders were nearby to handle it. In a way, they're adressing the problem, even if it relies on chance and factors outside their control." After the soldiers leave, he raises his hand to the Lieutenant. "Sir Trent, if I may, how do we know there are just three of them? Did someone actually see them at the building? There's a difference in certainty between doing a head count at the source and seeing three of them hunt somewhere. If the latter, there could be a lot more."
Thanks for the updates, Spaz. Not gonna lie, when I started reading that I was convinced it was a cancellation notice for the campaign and I'm happy to be proven wrong :) Regarding the current gameplay, perhaps this is a good moment to skip to the announcement, if only so Macavity and Tomoe can join in again too?
Harran stops when her current or former affiliation appears a sensitive topic to Mia. "Did I say something wrong? But she just told us of her order on her own will?" "Fair enough. I guess my Lodge's methods can be extreme too. One of my friends was locked up in a cage once until he could shapeshift to a bird to fly out. Though... to be fair, he'd been abusing his gift to play pranks on too many people, among... ah, 'other things', so he'd probably deserved it." The ranger seems to recall something with a wistful grin, then starts walking out the alley. "We should probably go. Don't want to miss the announcement at the square." Maybe Bordan had the right idea and shifting the subject further would get the zealot of her back. It wouldn't hurt to try... hopefully.
"I thought incorporal beings were pretty dangerous... and these people have already fought them? ...Wait, 'for training'!?" Harran wonders, pondering the Tiefling's words. "They summoned ghosts ofor you to fight on purpose? He repeats, eyes wide. "Wow. This... order of yours sounds brutal, Mia. Who are they?" "And are you still with them?" he thinks, noticing the way she kept trying to hide herself beneath her cloak and seemed uncomfortable in general. It wasn't quite what he'd expect a supposedly hardened soldier to do, but then again, he didn't have much experience, and he knew virtually nothing about the girl - or either of these other men, for that matter.
I wanted to ask, since we've not really done any skill checks or combat yet, if it'd be okay to slightly alter Harran's stats. I'm considering dropping dex to 12 or 13 from 14 and raising int to 12 or 13 instead. That way, he can eventually select a few arcane spells to add to the shaman list amd shore up any deficiency the party might have in those. Int 13 would allow two up to third level arcane spells at shaman 6. His ac as a healer is not that good, so he probably benefits from having mirror image, shield and/or haste to cast if needed. But he could pick others too.
Me? I'm good at everything... and at spinning a solid line of bull crap, Borden says with a laugh. Harran snorts, clearly amused. "Noted, and case in point?" His grin fades as he thinks on what exactly to say next. "As for me... well, I'm good with a spear. I know tracking, survival tricks, and can tell my kingsfoil from my silverleaf. I share my long-lived parent's senses, though at times I wish I could do without his nose." He idly motions over the nearby alleys and the reeking trash scattered about in them here and there, made no better by the midday run above. "I... know some druidic magic too and heal wounds, if needed. I think that's about it for me."
'Us?' What 'us'? We only just bumped into eachother?" Harran wonders, but follows along regardless, keeping the Pharasman in his periferal vision on the way. Bordan and Mia seemed friendly enough, at least, and he has a suspicion they both knew how to defend themselves. And maybe Dragomir wasn't as zealous as he first seemed. Wouldn't hurt to keep options open until they heard the announcement...
Harran wasn't really surprised by the terse reaction on his statememt, as he'd been on the wrong end of superstition and religion for most of his life - even now, when things had finally seemed like they'd work themselves out. People seemed to get offended and potentially violent very easily when challenged in whatever system they had for themselves to explain away inexplicable things, and this older man certainly looked dangerous as well. That Mia seemed to want to hide from the man also didn't speak in his favor. On both accounts, he wasn't particularly interested in picking a fight with the self-proclaimrd 'Pharasmin (?)' over nothing but his preference to not worship a god. Thus, he holds his tongue until the topic shifsts and Bordan speaks up first. "...Yes, I too was asked by the guards when I got here. But now that we're talking... sorry, sir Borden, was it? Did you just say you *ate* dog hair? Do they really use that as a hangover cure here?"
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